


Infinity

by KUG



Category: Wild Kratts
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Brother Feels, Brotherly Angst, Creature Power Suit headcanon, Creature Power Suit malfunction, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Infinity War (Marvel Comics), Romance, Shipping, ghost au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-03-22 20:55:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13772379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KUG/pseuds/KUG
Summary: A collection of one-shots (or possibly short multi-chapter). Some shipping, some platonic, just whatever I feel like writing and posting. (Title comes from one of my favorite songs.)





	1. Radio Static

**Author's Note:**

> "You’re a ghost and I’m a human and somehow we fall in love with each other" AU

The first time the ghost appeared, Koki screamed and threw a vase. She’d been trying to fall asleep, feeling too cold and uneasy for no apparent reason, and when she rolled over, there he was, hovering and slightly see-through, though she’d thought it was a trick of the light. Shrieking for all she was worth, she’d sat up, grabbed the nearest thing —fortunately not her phone—and chucked it as hard as she could.

To her shock it went right through the man. He snorted in annoyance and vanished seemingly right as she blinked.

Koki didn’t sleep at all that night, though the room was no longer cold.

The next time she saw him was when she was brushing her teeth. ‘Saw’ was a figure of speech. The bathroom mirror was steamy from the hot water she was running in preparation to wash her face, and as she watched, words appeared on the foggy mirror.

_U r wasting water._

Koki was torn between terror and annoyance, but she grabbed a hand towel and wiped all the steam off the mirror, her hand feeling cool as it passed over the spot where the words had been.

She turned off the water.

After that the ghost kept doing little things, annoying things. It turned off the lights as soon as she left a room, even if she’d just gone to the kitchen to grab a spoon. The ghost would open the windows with a bang, and sometimes shut them if Koki forgot to close it again. It wrote messages in the steamy mirror while she was showering or washing her face, and sometimes on the fogged-up kitchen window when she was straining pasta in the sink.

It said stupid stuff like: _ur wasting water_ (again), and _fresh air is good 4 u_ , and _steamed broccoli is rlly tasty_.

But she hadn’t seen it since she’d first been scared by it. She thought about getting someone to come and sprinkle holy water around or something to get rid of it. But if she were being honest, she almost…enjoyed its presence here. It was like a weird companion, or an AI that kept telling her random stuff. Sometimes…Koki talked back.

“How much water should I put in to steam these beans?” she asked one night, pointing to the snapped string beans in her pot. She leaned forwards and breathed on the window.

 _1 cup_ , came the answer

“Thanks.”

After that it became more and more of a habit to talk to the ghost.

It got really excited one day when it discovered that it could possess an old radio that had been sitting in the corner. “ _Hello_!” crackled a voice. Koki almost dropped the wire model she was moving.

“Hey, who said you could touch that?” she demanded.

“ _Me_ ,” said the voice again. It was severely distorted and clipped and other radio noise bled into the sound, but Koki could tell that it was a male voice.

“So, I guess I never asked, but what’s your name?” Koki asked.

Silence. Then, “ _I. Don’t. Know_.”

She frowned. “What? That doesn’t make sense.”

“ _Can’t. Remember_.”

At that moment she remembered that in myths, ghosts lingered near the places they had died, unable to move on until their spirits were at rest. The thought raised the hair on the back of her neck, but at the same time she felt a wave of pity for her invisible friend.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly, and she meant it.

” _It’s. Okay_.”

She nodded. But in the back of her mind, Koki was already thinking on how she could help him.

It didn’t take her terribly long. She did her research while she was at school, hoping that her ghost friend wouldn’t follow her and get agitated. It wasn’t too hard to find.

It was a burglary gone bad.

Two brothers had lived in that apartment almost a decade ago, while they studied at the same school Koki was attending. A thief broke in thinking the brothers were at school, but one of them had been home at the time. There was a fight, a knife, and…. The older brother came home to police tape in his doorway and a body bag in the back of an ambulance.

Koki felt sick. She hadn’t known that there was a _murder_ in the same place she now lived. When she got home, she couldn’t help shaking with horror as she walked past the spot in the hallway where they’d probably found the body.

“I’m home,” she called, subdued.

“ _Welcome. Home_ ,” the voice crackled from the radio.

Koki walked into the living room and looked around. She was very quiet for a long moment. “Can…Can I see you?” she asked quietly. “I won’t scream or throw anything this time.”

There was silence from the radio.

Slowly, a transparent shape began to appear. It was hard to see with the daylight shining in, so Koki went and closed the blinds, her fingers trembling nervously. Then she turned around and stifled a gasp.

He was standing shyly in the middle of the room, twiddling his thumbs and cautiously meeting her gaze. “ _Hi_ ,” he said over the radio, and this time his voice was a little clearer, as if manifesting himself gave him more strength.

At a loss for what else to say, Koki smiled back equally shyly. “Hey.” She stepped towards him, feeling colder as she approached. Her breath was visible by the time she stood in front of him.

She hadn’t looked up pictures. He had dark eyes, probably brown, and dark hair that looked like he combed it with his fingers; several tufts of his bangs stubbornly resisted gravity. If he hadn’t been a ghost, Koki would swear that he was blushing. It was unbearably cute.

She swallowed. “I…I did some research.”

His eyes widened. “ _What did you. Find?_ ”

“Your name is Chris Kratt,” she whispered, desperately hoping that his name wouldn’t let him remember enough to leave.

He flinched, his transparent form flickering. “ _I…. I remember. My name. Now._ ”

“Do you want to know the rest?”

For a long moment he looked anywhere but at her, then he turned his unfathomable dark eyes to her. “ _No. I might. Leave you. If I know…. I know that. I didn’t die. Pleasantly._ ” He chuckled and Koki’s bones ached at the sound. “ _Why else. Would I be. Here?_ ”

Koki actually sighed in relief, and felt only the faintest twinge of guilt. “I’m…. I’m glad you’re here, in a way,” she admitted. “Chris… I really like you.”

Again, it seemed as though he were blushing. The temperature around him rose a few degrees. “ _I really like you too,_ ” he said, more clearly than ever. He lifted a translucent hand and made as if to touch her cheek. Koki felt a faint pressure, like a flower petal against her skin, but it was surprisingly warm in comparison to the chill that his presence gave off.

She smiled and reached up, her fingers tingling as they passed through his and rested against her own cheek where his hand would be. “I’m really glad,” she repeated.


	2. "I've Got You"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WK/Avengers crossover. Infinity War  
> Because @holykratt over on Tumblr made a post and I got very sad and since I'm on an angst kick I whipped this up. Do not proceed if you haven't yet seen the movie and don't want it to be spoiled.

The Zachbot next to Chris suddenly stops what it's doing and kind of...spins in place, looking confused if it were possible for an emotionless robot to be confused. Its red eyes are blinking slowly, as though it has received an order, but it's not doing anything.

The hair on the back of his neck suddenly stands on end as people and aliens alike in the battle suddenly...stop being. They're gone like ashes in the wind, and every inch of Chris's well-honed creature senses are tingling with confusion and _wrongness_.

I need to find Martin.

He turns and hurries towards where he last saw his brother, but before he can take two steps a horrible feeling settles into his gut and his eyes widen in horror. At the exact same moment, Martin suddenly swoops down out of the sky in his falcon power suit, moving towards his little brother as fast as he can. He lands right in front of Chris, calling out as he does so.

"Chris! What's going on?!"

The terrible feeling is growing stronger and Chris is so scared suddenly. He rushes straight to Martin, feeling small; he feels like a child again, running to hide in the safety of his brother's arms. Without any prompting, Martin's wings fold around him, feathers soft and warm.

"What's wrong?" he asks, worry making his voice strained.

"Martin...?" Chris says, and his voice is so small and confused and _afraid_ , "...I don't...I don't feel so good...."

Martin scoops him even closer, if that's possible. "It's okay, I'm here. What's wrong?"

Chris can feel it.

Martin's entire world shrinks to one tiny space, just him and his brother. Chris's face is buried in his soft chest feathers, but he lifts it now and looks up into his brother's eyes. _God_ , his eyes are so wide.

And then he knows.

Instantly Martin wraps his wings even tighter around Chris, as if he can hold him together with the sheer force of his love and protectiveness. His eyes frantically race over his brother.

There it is.

The wispiness, the dust.

Chris clings to him so tightly that it hurts but Martin is holding him back just as tight. Somehow he has deactivated and he buries his fingers into Chris’s hair.

“I...I don’t want to go,” Chris gasps abruptly, “I can’t leave!”

“I know I know,” Martin soothes mindlessly, “It’s okay, I’ve got you.”

There is less of Chris to hold but nothing in heaven or hell could pry Martin away from him right now.

“It’s okay, I’m right here, Chris, I’ve got you, it's okay,” he babbles.

Chris buries his face against Martin’s shoulder, not quite solid. “Don’t look,” he whispers, but it sounds as loud as a shout to Martin. “Don’t watch me go.”

Martin shuts his eyes tightly and ducks his own head against his brother’s, fumbling a clumsy big-brother kiss against Chris’s temple as he does so.

One moment Chris is there, his heartbeat pounding against Martin’s chest (how, through two sets of creature power suit vests), his strong, but somehow so little (how is he so big and so small at the same time) body trembling in Martin’s arms (how is he so big and his baby brother so tiny and fragile).

The next moment, Martin is stumbling a little, his arms closing on empty air and his tears falling to the ground instead of making his brother’s hair wet and stiff with salt

He can’t even wrap his brain around it, Chris is never not there. Even when they’re apart, Chris is there. Turning, Martin looks around, lost. The world is not just him anymore, but hundreds of soldiers and aliens reeling, looking around for each other, but at the same time, Martin’s world is gone.

And then, he feels some deep unknowable dread settle into his stomach and suddenly he feels almost lightheaded. He laughs, perhaps a little hysterically, and though he regrets not being able to say anything to the crew, or his family back at home, he doesn’t really care.

Because he’s going to be with Chris. His baby brother doesn’t have to be alone.

It’s okay.

“I meant it,” Martin whispers, no longer standing because his lower half is fading out of existence.

And then he’s gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry, I actually cried as I wrote this.  
> Feel free to scream angrily at me, I deserve it for breaking my own heart.


	3. Malfunction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> I'm mean, what can I say. Someone save these poor boys from me

They’d been separated for too long, Martin was starting to get worried. The twists and turns of Zach’s city tower had been leading him on a far too lengthy route for almost twenty minutes, and in all that time Chris hadn’t contacted him once. The crew was silent too, and Martin feared the worst; Zach must have trapped them all again, or else cut off all communication.

He was especially worried because lately Zach had been acting far more dangerous than he ever had before, very nearly killing many of the animals he’d captured, and getting dangerously close to inflicting bodily harm on the Kratts when they showed up to stop him. Martin was wary of this change to begin with, but now the silence...the hair on the back of his neck rose at the thought of his brother or team being hurt.

Gritting his teeth, Martin felt in his pocket for the wolf tooth and reached to his pocket on the other hip where he kept his wolf power disc. If worse came to worst, he could use wolf powers to either fight or escape, after finding his brother and team, that was.

Abruptly he heard a thud above his head, and he jumped but made a dash for the nearest stairs, heart in his throat; it might be his brother or the rest of the team. Taking the stairs three at a time, Martin sprinted towards the door, barely remembering in time to open it cautiously in case it was a trap of some sort or stealth was needed. As he eased the door open, he heard another thud, this one distinctly louder and more metallic sounding. There was a whir and a clang, then suddenly a low cry that made his heart stop for a split second.

Chris.

Martin forgot stealth and shot towards the sound, skidding around a corner and stopping dead on the spot.

The large machine shop room in front of him was trashed, shop machines and half-finished products twisted and scattered, and among them were the mangled metallic forms of Zachbots. In the center of it all stood Chris, and even though his back was to his brother, Martin could see the way his shoulders were heaving and his legs were trembling with exertion. A Zachbot was rushing towards Chris, who sidestepped at the last second, grabbing a retractable arm and swinging the bot around. Using its own momentum, he slammed it to the ground and stood over it, panting hard.

“Chris!” Martin found his voice at last, relief flooding his body.

Hearing him, Chris lifted his head, and that was when Martin realized that something was terribly, terribly wrong.

There was blood smeared around Chris’s mouth and nose, and several thick strings of bloody saliva dripped and hung from his chin. But even with the mess and the distance between them, Martin could see that Chris’s teeth were wrong, too sharp. His brown eyes were glassy with exhaustion and terror. He twitched as a spark of green electricity jumped out of the front of his Creature Power Suit. Or rather, what had used to be the bright green activation button; it was smashed inwards, shards sticking out jaggedly.

“C-Chris, are you okay?” Martin asked numbly, taking a step closer. The hair on the back of his neck was prickling with _wrongness_.

“Martin…” Chris panted, tears welling up in his dark eyes, “help me….”

His weak, pleading voice snatched at Martin’s protective instincts, clawing them to life, and he started forwards immediately, stretching out his arms towards his little brother.

Without warning, Chris lurched backwards, his eyes flying wide open as he clapped a hand to his mouth. To Martin’s utter horror, Chris choked, and blood spewed from between his fingers. In the same heartbeat, the Creature Power Suit started to flicker, throwing off strands of green energy in a way that Martin had never seen it do before. It glowed and jittered, and Chris snatched his hand away from his mouth, claws sprouting from the tips of his gloves. He gave a guttural scream of pain, the sound garbled by the blood clogging his throat, as pointed ears glowed to life in place of his own rounded human ones.

Martin stumbled, slowing his headlong rush towards his brother, terror freezing him where he stood. Chris’s body jerked unnaturally as electric energy from the fritzing power suit washed over him. Gasping, he locked eyes with Martin again, one of them wide open, the other half-shut in pain; one of his pupils was now slitted, the other was rapidly shrinking and dilating.

“HeLP!” he gasped.

And as Martin rushed forward once more, Chris staggered backwards, head thrown back in a grating shriek as the electricity increased tenfold and flooded the room with unnatural green light.

* * *

 Martin opened his eyes. The dark ceiling stared back at him, blank and black. What was he doing on the floor? Where was he? Everything was so fuzzy and the air tasted funny as he breathed it. There was a soft noise nearby that he couldn’t quite make out…

Chris.

Jolting upright, Martin ignored the woozy feeling that washed over him, spinning around frantically in search of his brother. The light, the blood, the _wrongness_. What had just happened? He caught sight of Chris huddled on the floor and all other thoughts fled as Martin rushed to him and lifted his brother into his arms.

“Chris, Chris, answer me bro, c’mon.”

Chris was limp and heavy in his grip, and his his head lolled over Martin’s arm; blood was still dribbling out of his mouth, making a dark line on Martin’s sleeve. Terror froze his blood to ice. His brother wasn’t responding and it was obvious that he was suffering from internal bleeding, this was _bad_.

“Chris!” Martin pleaded, tilting his brother’s head back and running his hands through dark hair in the same motion. His heart thumped painfully in his chest as he saw that Chris’s eyes were still open; his eyes were completely glazed and blank.

Forget all that had seemed wrong earlier, this was worse than all that, despite the fact that the Creature Power Suit seemed to have lost power and no longer posed a threat. Martin moved to shift Chris’s weight and reach for his creature pod, before remembering the unnatural radio silence from earlier. The team wouldn’t respond. Okay, now what? Martin tried to calm his racing thoughts and get some vague semblance of control again, but he knew he was starting to simply panic, fear for his brother’s life fogging up all rational thought.

Desperate tears sprang to his eyes and he adjusted Chris’s position, cradling him carefully across his lap. Gently patting his brother’s cheek, Martin called softly to him “c’mon bud, you gotta’ wake up. You’re scaring me, and you don’t want to do that to your big brother right?”

He didn’t do anything but continue to breathe raggedly, his empty brown eyes staring unconsciously past Martin’s head. A sob shook Martin’s chest.

“C’mon Chris, please wake up!” He gave his brother a tiny, desperate shake, but Chris only bobbed limply with the movement, his head lolling again and leaving a fresh smudge of blood on Martin’s sleeve.

The frantic tears in Martin’s eyes started running down his cheeks as he carded his fingers through Chris’s hair again, hoping that the gentle contact could coax his brother into wakefulness. His fingers were shaking with fear. Finally, desperately, he clutched his brother against himself, curling his trembling hands tightly against Chris’s hair and back.

“Please!” he cried brokenly.

Only the feeling of Chris breathing against his chest kept him from completely losing it. He just sat there for who knew how long, shaking and holding his brother. He needed to get medical help, he needed to escape, he needed to do _something_ , but he was frozen.

The sound of footsteps broke through the sound his his ragged sobs and he stopped, swallowing his tears to listen. It was the sound of crisp, clean shoes, and Martin felt a very ugly emotion start to grow in his chest as he lifted his head to face the approaching noise.

Sure enough, Zach Varmitech himself turned the corner, hands clasped behind his back, his sharp chin tilted at a superior angle. He was smiling, a cruel, unfriendly smile that made his green eyes look sinister.

“What’s going on here?” he said, with a very knowing glint in his eye.

“What did you do Zach?” Martin snapped, vaguely irritated at the way his voice still wobbled.

Zach seemed to ignore him, his sharp eyes roving over the brothers. “Well, well, Wild Rat,” he said, mouth curling smugly, “looks like you finally paid the price for trespassing.”

Martin stiffened. “What have you done?” he snarled, lowering Chris to his lap but moving to shield his brother with his own body.

Raising an eyebrow, Zach elegantly laid a hand on his chest. “Me? Nothing. If anything, it looks like your brother provoked the security Zachbots. They don’t get very violent unless they’re pushed,” he added nonchalantly.

Blood boiling with rage, Martin laid Chris gently on the floor, reaching into his pocket for the wolf power disk. “Look, I don’t want to be here anymore. We’re going to leave, right after you tell me what you’ve done with my crew.”

“Oh nothing,” Zach said airily, “Just left them grounded in the park where you Rats were last time you came to town.”

A wave of relief eased his anger somewhat. The crew was safe! Probably not entirely, knowing Zach, but it was better than captured or injured. “Okay,” he said slowly, “I’m going to get my brother and we’ll leave, I don’t want any more trouble.”

Zach raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think so. You two are trespassing. I have the right to detain you.”

Martin’s temper was back in full force as he shot a glance over his shoulder. “And let my brother bleed to death on your floor?”

He shrugged. “Like I said. You’re trespassing.”

“No,” Martin cut him off. “We have certain rights that other researchers and activists don’t have, and you _know_ that. Besides which,” he bared his teeth, “if I can’t take Chris and go right now, you’ll have more than just the law to worry about.”

Zach finally had the sense to look a little worried, but he smoothed it over a moment later with another sneer. “I’m _so_ scared blue boy.” He looked down at his wrist and tapped at a device there, and Martin heard a low grating sound from somewhere in the room.

Whirling, he saw a half-broken Zachbot hover jerkily upright. One arm extended swiftly towards him but all Martin could see in that moment was the fact that his brother was between the robot and himself. In an instant, Martin leaped over his brother, sliding the creature power disc out of his pocket and into its slot as he clutched the wolf tooth in one hand. Another heartbeat later he was a swift and powerful wolf, lunging to crush the Zachbot to the floor again.

He whipped back around to Zach with a curled lip, “Stop with the games _Varmitech_ , or I’ll really do something drastic.”

Zach scowled. “You thought that was the only one?” he shot back. “I just reactivated the security bots, and they’ll be here in less than a minute.”

Rage filled Martin’s vision with red, and he turned fully towards the villain, lunging across the room like a silent bolt of blue lightning. Zach had just enough time to widen his eyes and throw up a hand before Martin was on him, hands grabbing his shoulders as he bared gleaming canines only inches from Zach’s face.

“I _said_ , stop with the games, _Varmitech_. Don’t make me repeat myself again.”

For a moment neither of them moved, and Zach just stood frozen, his arms pinned by the clawed hands gripping him and his eyes locked on Martin’s huge, wicked fangs. Then, slowly, he looked away and croaked, “let go of my arm.”

Martin released him but didn’t so much as step back, his eyes laser focused on Zach while one ear twisted around to monitor Chris.

Zach didn’t dare try any funny business with those teeth still so close to his face, so when Martin muttered a quiet command to release his team, he complied with only the tiniest scowl. Martin finally stepped back. “You know that I wouldn’t do this unless you push me too far, Zach,” Martin said, much less viciously than before, “so I also expect you to know that if you try any funny business before I reunite with my crew then I’m going to make you wish didn’t get out of bed this morning.”

“Yes, yes, whatever,” Zach muttered, but jumped and nodded rapidly when Martin gave a soft growl. “Just take your brother and go.”

Turning his back on the villain, Martin hurried to his brother and carefully scooped him up, hyper aware of Chris’s sluggish and erratic pulse. He nestled his little brother’s head against his shoulder and then marched out of the room. Zach avoided eye contact again, just standing by the door with a stricken look still on his face.

Martin didn’t bother to retrace his footsteps, as he’d been sneaking and taking back routes. Now he went straight to the main hallways and elevators, passing by silent, motionless Zachbots. His hackles lifted uneasily but they remained as still as statues as he walked past.

The beeping of his creature pod interrupted the eerie silence and he jumped with shock. He couldn’t answer it, his arms full of his brother, but after two rings, Koki must have forced the call through, because the crew’s frantic voices crackled to life, echoing around the hallway.

“Martin!”

“What happened?”

“Are you okay?”

“Where’s Zach?”

Martin raised his voice to be heard over their rapid-fire questions. “Guys! I’m okay!” They settled to soft murmurs of relief, letting him continue. “I forced Zach to let us go.”

“Where’s Chris?” Koki broke in, “His creature pod isn’t working.”

Martin’s stomach churned uneasily as he looked down at his brother. His eyes were still open and still blank, his breathing was harsh. Martin swallowed hard. “I...I don’t know what happened,” he croaked, “but he’s badly hurt. We have to get him to the hospital.”

For a moment there was nothing but silence on the other end of the line, and Martin could almost feel the fear and dread through comms.

Then Aviva spoke up softly. “We’re coming to you. Jimmy--”

“On it already.”

“I’m going to call in ahead,” Koki said, voice high-pitched with fear.

They stayed on the line as Martin continued to hurry down towards the front of the building, but they were talking amongst themselves, quietly discussing what needed to be done to make sure Chris saw medical help as soon as possible.

As Martin was finally crossing the expansive marble floors of the lobby, Chris suddenly breathed sharply and his body twitched. Martin’s eyes immediately darted down to his brother’s face. Chris’s eyes had some awareness back in them, but they were still glazed with pain. He raised a hand and pushed it weakly against Martin’s chest.

“S-stop.”

“What?”

He pushed again, slightly harder. “Stop, wa...walking.”

Martin did, confused. “What’s wrong? Chris?”

He moved his hand to tug at the collar of his creature power suit vest. “Take it o-off-f. Don’t let them-m see i-it.”

“Wh… Why? Chris, what’s going on?”

Chris turned his glazed brown eyes to Martin’s blue ones. “Can’t let...V-Vivs get in tr-ouble.”

Suddenly Martin understood. The suit was a wreck, and if the crew saw it immediately, Aviva might panic, not to mention that if they showed up at the hospital with the ruined suit still on, the technology would likely be confiscated by authorities and put under investigation. That wasn’t something either of the brothers could bear to do, for both Aviva’s sake and their own.

“Okay Chris,” Martin said softly.

He knelt on the cold marble floor and gently set Chris down so that his weight was still mostly against his older brother, but so his hands could be free. Carefully he reached back and undid the emergency clasps on the back of the suit, then slid it down and off Chris’s arms. He took off the gloves as well. For lack of anything better to do, he just held them all in one hand as he picked Chris back up and resumed his pace towards the door.

“Thank you,” Chris slurred, eyes fluttering shut.

“No, no, hey, stay awake bro. I need you to stay with me.”

His eyes opened again and he curled one fist into the fur on Martin’s chest. “Okay. I’m s-so tired…”

“I know, I know you are, but you _have_ to stay awake.”

Chris nodded sluggishly.

Martin started reminiscing on a story from their childhood, stopping and nudging Chris to respond at intervals, which he did after a pause.

As Martin finally stepped out of the doors of Zach’s building, the Tortuga hovered down over the street, making cars honk and slow in alarm, but it didn’t set down. Instead Aviva came zipping out on the hover-bike and landed right in front of Martin. He hopped in, surreptitiously stowing the damaged creature power suit on the floor towards the front of the sidecar, where Aviva couldn’t see it.

Chris turned his glassy eyes towards Aviva and somehow managed a crooked little smile. “Hey ‘Vivs,” he croaked.

“Hey Chris,” she said softly, but she looked away quickly as she revved the bike’s engine and flew up back into the Tortuga’s garage.

They didn’t even get out of the bike, because once they were at the hospital they’d have to fly down to the emergency room anyway as the Tortuga was far too big to land near the hospital. The ride there was quiet, Aviva and Martin busy keeping Chris awake with stories. He was fading out again, his replies more slurred while his eyes looked progressively more unfocused and glassy. Martin deactivated but continued to hold Chris and gently pat his cheek to keep him awake. Aviva reached over and felt his forehead, giving Martin a wide-eyed look; he was running a high fever.

The next few minutes started to blur together for Martin, and later he'd only barely be able to remember hurrying into the emergency room, being swarmed by nurses, and finally releasing his brother to the care of strangers, watching as Chris was wheeled away into a room where Martin couldn't follow. He has snippets of memories of sitting in the lobby, unable to fall asleep, but exhausted from shock; the doctor letting him visit Chris once he was stable; and waking up every ten minutes as he slept by Chris's bed that night, just to make sure his brother was safe. At some point he was finally able to fall into a deep slumber, his head pillowed on his arms at the foot of the bed.

* * *

 Martin felt something touching his head, and he grumbled into awareness, wishing that Chris would let him sleep in for _once_ in his life.

"Chris," he croaked irritably, "go pour your own cereal. I'll be up in a minute."

He heard a hoarse little laugh, and it jarred him out of his mistaken assumption that Chris was trying to wake him up for Saturday morning cartoons. Blinking heavily, Martin lifted his head and blearily looked around, snapping back to the present.

Hospital sheets, hospital bed, beeping monitors. Chris must have been poking his head with one foot from under the blankets; right, they were in the _hospital_. Martin turned his head as quickly as he could to see Chris propped up a little at the head of the bed, grinning lopsidedly.

"You know that I can't pour milk without spilling it," the brunette teased.

In the next second Martin lunged forward, just barely stopping himself from hugging the dickens out of his brother. He settled for gently ruffling Chris's already unruly hair.

"You almost gave me a heart attack," he said, voice still groggy but relieved.

"Sorry," Chris replied, still grinning tiredly.

Martin scanned his brother quickly, feeling an unimaginable amount of relief on seeing that Chris's eyes were exhausted but not glazed and unfocused as they had been the last time he'd been awake. He was wearing a thin hospital gown with bandages peeking out from under it, and wires escaping out of the left sleeve; Martin suspected that the doctors were keeping a close eye on Chris's heart, since he'd practically been electrocuted. Overall he looked far better than the last time Martin had seen him.

"I'm so glad," he mumbled, folding his arms for lack of anything better to do with them, "I was so scared." Despite his words, he was smiling so hard that it hurt.

Chris's own weary but sincere grin didn't waver, and he reached out to pat Martin's arm. "Sorry bro. I didn't mean to."

"I know you didn't." Martin finally unfolded himself and thought _screw it_ he was going to hug his baby brother right now. He had been so afraid of losing Chris, and nothing except the word of his brother would stop him from smothering him with affection right now.

Chris didn't protest in the slightest as Martin engulfed him in a hug, just nestled his face against Martin's shoulder and let himself feel utterly, completely safe and protected.

They remained that way for a few minutes. Soon they'd have to get down to the business of talking to doctors, police, and other government officials about what had happened and what was next, but for right now they would just pretend that none of that mattered. Right now it was just the brothers, feeling overwhelmingly glad to be safe and sound with each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At least I tried not to end on a depressing note this time


	4. Prototype

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Creature Power Suits are just prototypes. Advanced prototypes, but nonetheless, they are still highly experimental and potentially dangerous pieces of equipment. As such, Aviva starts out very careful and very paranoid. But she's only human, she can always miss something.

The Creature Power Suits are just prototypes. Advanced prototypes, but nonetheless, they are still highly experimental and potentially dangerous pieces of equipment. As such, Aviva started out very careful and very paranoid.

The first time the Kratt brothers use the suits, absolutely everything is being monitored. They’re strapped to heart monitors and electrodes and Koki is off to the side running a constant scan with a datapad (also experimental but not nearly as potentially life-threatening).

It’s very simple, in Aviva’s mind, and compared to what they’ll be able to turn into late, just a domestic dog program (Aviva chose a Labrador). The brothers are still over the moon and it takes every ounce of self control they have to not go sprinting around the room, yelling and barking with excitement. They stand, quivering, as Aviva and Koki rapidly collect data and start asking questions, and Martin’s tail is wagging so hard that his whole body is wiggling. Chris is a little more thoughtful, and he only wags his tail once before looking a little startled and awed and holding it still.

Aviva asks them to do several simple tasks, things that they wouldn’t be able to do with normal human bodies, such as rotate their ears and lay them flat, and move their tails around on their own. Without being asked, Martin relates that he can’t see in color, but he can smell _much_ better than normal.

After only five minutes, Aviva has them deactivate. So far she doesn’t know if the neural strain will be too much for the bodies and minds to handle, so it’s better to play it safe.

Later, Chris complains of a bit of a lingering headache, and Martin’s tailbone is sore, so Aviva writes that down. But everything has gone smoothly, it seems.

As the team gets to know each other and make plans for trips and start their highly experimental observation and conservation adventure, they run more and more tests on the suits, still being as careful as possible. By now Martin and Chris are champing at the bit, eager to take them out into the field, but Aviva still isn’t sure.

By this point she’s made dozens upon dozens of tweaks, adjusting the neural load and the basic programming. The brothers have been in the suits for up to an hour, and have put the suits through their paces as much as possible while still within the Tortuga, running, climbing, and making as much of a ruckus as possible. But Aviva hasn’t given them anything that makes them smaller than a medium sized dog, or bigger than a lion (which was a power they were absolutely ecstatic over). She hasn’t given them anything that will go to extremes, such as a giraffe’s long neck, either.

Aviva doesn’t know what the lasting effects of wearing the suit will be, if it will have long-term effects at all now that she’s worked out most of the major kinks, so she remains cautious. She knows that there are things she hasn’t even _thought_ to test before they go out in the field, and the thought of her sensitive, highly experimental tech being broken, or _worse_ , hurting someone, is almost too much to bear.

One day they don’t have the time to wait for tests.

They’ve been in the African grasslands, somewhere closer to the jungle, observing several rival prides of lions and the ecosystem around them, which has been tampered with by poachers a lot recently. The Kratt brothers are very cautious when they go out, most of the time right at dawn when the air is coolest.

Today is like any other, Koki running daily diagnostics and checks on the Tortuga, Jimmy doing a little light programming, and Aviva hard at work in the garage, grease stained to the elbows as she tinkers with a new idea for hovering bike. Chris and Martin have been gone for hours, but have checked in twice so that the crew knows they’re okay.

All of a sudden Aviva can hear an explosion of chatter from upstairs, closely followed by feet pounding up ramp. It’s unnerving, so Aviva hurries up to check on things. To her horror, she sees Chris yanking the green Creature Power Suit over his head, sweaty hair disheveled as he snatches the gloves out of the wall case and then jerks open the door to the blue suit’s case.

“What are you doing?” Aviva screeches, sprinting across the room.

He whips around and the look on his face is enough to make her choke on her next words. Wordlessly he grabs the blue Creature Power Suit, tucks it under one arm, and streaks out of the room, back down the ramp and into the hot savanna sun.

Koki is frantically throwing medical supplies into a bag as she pulls up a contact list on her datapad, and Jimmy catches Aviva up. She hears “poacher” and “gunshot” and “Martin still there” and dread coils in her stomach.

She’s grateful that the brothers left the ‘Createrra’ in the garage today, as her and the rest of the crew pile in and floor it after Chris, who has already vanished into the grass. She catches a glimpse of him at one point, in an activated lion power suit, his emerald fur gleaming in the sun.

They have to slow to make it around a hazardous section of terrain and the last she sees of Chris for a while is his tufted tail whipping away around the bend in a gully.

By the time Aviva, Koki, and Jimmy arrive on scene, there are no lions left except the Kratt brothers. She has no idea what just happened, but Chris is on the ground and Martin is sitting under a scrubby tree, gasping for breath with a gun broken in two beside him. Two men are perched precariously on thorny branches, obviously being held at bay by the blue-coated lion under their refuge.

Before the crew can so much as get out of the vehicle, Martin points at Chris. “See him,” he gasps out, pinkish froth bubbling at the corners of his mouth, “I’ve got these two.”

Koki has already called authorities so the crew just hurries over to where Chris is curled up on his side. Jimmy squawks at the sight of blood scattered on the grass when they get closer, and Chris cracks open one eye and gives a half smile. “Not mine,” he whispers.

Aviva knew it. She knew that they shouldn’t take the suits out in the field yet. They weren’t ready. This was one of the things she hadn’t _thought_ to check on.

There are claw marks on Chris’s back, long gouges in the suit but the main chest piece looks ok, and one emotionless part of Aviva thinks _good, the hardware isn’t badly damaged._ But Chris is stiff with pain, his eyes pinched shut and face drenched with sweat. There’s no blood, because the wounds aren’t deep enough to have completely punctured the suit.

But Aviva hadn’t programmed around pain sensations. She’d been tweaking the senses but somehow never thought to touch this. Chris and Martin had gone careening around in the suits before and slammed into furniture and walls, but laughed and brushed it off, not even bruised, so Aviva hadn’t even thought about it. The suit connected to the nervous system, she _should have realized that it would be a problem_.

Shaking herself out of angry thoughts of failure, Aviva tries to reach the deactivation button, but Chris’s arms are clutched tightly to his chest. “You have to move your arms,” she tells him and he swallows hard but nods.

He moves his left arm very slowly and stiffly and Aviva checks to confirm that one of the gouges goes up and across his shoulder. The button is exposed now and she presses it home quickly, then frowns when nothing happens.

“Jammed,” Chris mutters.

Quickly Aviva looks for the emergency panel she’s installed on the back of the suit, and she swears under her breath as she realizes that one of the gouges has damaged it; there’s a possibility that it shorted out the main button to begin with.

She goes back to the chest button, whips a multi-tool out of her pocket, and digs at the little catch until the whole thing pops open. The power disc falls out of its slot but Aviva ignores it and looks further until she finds the little panel she needs. She picks away at it for several long seconds, during which she becomes aware of Chris holding his breath so as not to interrupt her work.

Finally she succeeds and the suit returns to its deactivated state with a glow of green light. Chris goes limp with a huge exhale of relief, only to wince stiffen up again with a hiss.

Frowning, Koki rests a hand on his sweaty hair. “What’s wrong, the suit’s deactivated now.”

“Phantom pain,” Chris moans, but then slowly props himself up onto one elbow, breathing hard. “I didn’t think it was an issue till now.”

Aviva gets locked into another fearful thought, and without any warning she reaches around Chris and undoes the suit, then yanks both his shirt and pullover up to his neck. He protests, but Aviva’s soft swear stops him.

There are shallow welts where the claw marks had gouged his suit, red and swollen.

“This isn’t anything I could’ve predicted,” Aviva mutters. She lets the shirt drop and sits back on her heels. “I’m so sorry Chris. I should’ve--”

He cuts her off with touch on her arm. “You didn’t know. And I was too reckless, I know.”

Aviva and Jimmy hurry to check on Martin, leaving Koki to take care of Chris. Martin is much the same as Chris, sitting stiff and sweating, his eyes slightly glazed. He holds up a hand.

“Don’t deactivate me yet,” he pants, “I’ve got to keep these guys pinned ‘till the authorities get here.”

“But the pain will ease once we turn it off.”

One of the poachers shifts on his perch and without warning, Martin whips around with his lips pulled back in a snarl; his canines are long and sharp and at the moment he looks like he could easily rip a man limb from limb without blinking. The poacher freezes, and Aviva and Jimmy can see the whites of his eyes as he darts a terrified look at his companion, who is equally stiff with fear.

When they stay still, Martin turns back around and sinks back to his haunches, his eyebrows scrunched together so tightly that they almost meet in the middle of his forehead. “I have to hold them at bay,” he hisses through clenched teeth, “just take care of Chris.”

“Koki’s got it covered.”

“Good.”

It takes the authorities over an hour to reach them; they’re far out in the brush of course. Martin’s face is drenched with sweat, mouth open as he pants to help regulate his temperature, and Aviva makes a mental note to adjust the heating and cooling systems in the suits. Chris has somehow dropped into a doze, his head pillowed on Koki’s knees. Jimmy is nervously planning a stress-cooking binge, listing ingredients under his breath and running through the Tortuga’s supplies in his head. Aviva stays by Martin, ready to deactivate him the instant the authorities arrive.

They do, in the form of two jeeps’ worth of men, well-armed and serious. Koki directed them to the poachers and as soon as they climb down from the tree and are handcuffed, Martin punches the button on his suit. His isn’t jammed and he slumps with relief once it’s back to normal.

The authorities take statements from all the crew, including Chris, who is awake and finally on his feet, albeit a bit stiff.

Aviva finally hears the story; the brothers were observing the pride when poachers had approached, and Chris immediately ran back to the Tortuga, knowing that things could get ugly.The poachers had shot a lioness and Martin had run to try to stop it, and in the ensuing scuffle, three men had fallen out of their truck, while the rest made their getaway. Between poachers and lions, Martin just went up a scrubby tree, and so did the poachers, but as Chris returned, the male lion had returned to his pride and started to climb up after them.

Unable to sit back and watch the men get slaughtered, Chris had rushed forward to distract the male lion. Martin joined in once he was able, and they fought for a bit before realizing that they were hopelessly overpowered by the male lion and turned tail to run. Seeing that, the pride had moved off, taking their injured lioness with them. One of the poachers escaped the second they were gone, but Martin and Chris came back in time to pin the other two in the tree again. At that point, Chris was in too much pain to keep going and just lay down where he could while Martin sat down to keep the men at bay, knowing that a two on two fistfight wouldn’t be ideal and thus keeping his suit activated.

Once the statements have been gathered, the authorities thank the crew and cart off the poachers. Exhausted, the Wild Kratts crew climb into the Createrra and drive home to the Tortuga, quiet. Jimmy drives, and Aviva is in the back with Koki and Chris, who is once more stretched out with his eyes closed, head in Koki’s lap. In the passenger seat up front, Martin is also resting, leaning back as far as possible with his eyes shut.

They get home to the Tortuga and after the girls help Chris and Martin to the showers and leave fresh clothes out for them, Aviva immediately takes the suits back upstairs and tosses them onto her desk, ready for the repair work and reprogramming she’ll have to do. Jimmy is already in the kitchen, dishes rattling as he cooks to calm himself down after the eventful afternoon.

Soon everyone is done cleaning up and showering, and they silently, collectively agree to gather in the common room with comfortable cushions and blankets. Jimmy’s stress cooking has produced spaghetti in a rich vegetarian cream sauce, with fresh baked bread in the oven and brownies already cooling on the rack. Aviva turns on a Disney movie of some sort, and they try to forget about the day for a few hours.

Two weeks later Aviva catches Chris and Martin stripping out of muddy clothes in the garage and she realizes that the welts on their backs have turned discolored, almost scar-like. Martin, whose white scars claw from the middle of his back all the way down to his right hip, confesses that he and Chris didn’t tell her for fear of her banning the suits forever.

She wants to be mad, but she’s honestly more upset and sad, and she has to admit that the suits are performing much better now, and they’ve been out on one more (very closely monitored) field test. She’d hate to rip that joy away from the brothers, because she can see that they love what they’re able to do.

So she doesn’t ban the suits.

After a month, the scars are almost invisible, and only show on rare occasions, such as drastic weather shifts. The suits are working better than ever, but Aviva still stays up late often, making sure that nothing similar can ever happen again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This plot seized me out of nowhere and I had to just run with it. I think it turned out well, considering this is just a straight shot, written all at once, edited as I went.


	5. All Eyes on Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being in the spotlight is not Aviva's forte. Having her inventions and technology in the limelight? That's a whole different story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is old, but I only realized just now that I forgot to add it to this oneshot collection. Originally posted on Tumblr on February 25, 2018

“Hey, you’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, it’ll be great.”

Aviva jumped slightly, eyes flying open as two hands reached for hers under the tablecloth. Chris and Martin, seated on either side of her, smiled gently and reassuringly. Koki and Jimmy, arranged on the other side of the round table, offered her affirmative nods and smiles themselves.

Taking a deep breath, Aviva managed to smile back at them all. “Thanks.”

She’d been keeping her eyes shut while a different speaker was onstage, but it was almost time for her own presentation. As the audience around the hall applauded the speaker and the announcer walked back on, Aviva took one last sip from her glass of water and stood to head to the side of the stage. Chris, Martin, and Koki followed behind her and as the announcer began introducing her, Koki reached forward and gave her hand a final squeeze of reassurance.

“Without further ado, Miss Aviva Corcovado!”

The audience clapped again as Aviva stepped into the spotlight. She almost froze as she looked out over the crowd, feeling half-blinded by the stage lights shining down on her. Then her gaze locked onto Jimmy, who grinned and gave her a thumbs-up.

She could do this, she had everyone supporting her.

“Good evening!” she said cheerfully into the microphone as she reached the podium, “First and foremost, I have to thank you all for being here, and I have to thank Dr. Mason for inviting me here in the first place.” She paused to wait out the brief swell of applause, smiling as her nerves began to smooth out. “When I was first invited, Dr. Mason asked me if I could do a presentation on technology and design. At first I had no idea what to do with that. Any one of my coworkers can tell you about the disaster I made of our first crew jacket design a few months ago.”

A smattering of chuckles rippled through the crowd and the tension in Aviva’s shoulder eased even more.

“Then I started really thinking hard on design and what it meant in regards to technology, how engineers, programmers, modelers, and so many more use and incorporate design in new tech. And I thought about one of my personal inventions, my greatest achievement so far. Many of you may have already heard of them. My Creature Power Suits, a working prototype of a suit that can use DNA data to transform into an animal shape that the wearer can fully utilize.”

As she spoke, Koki wheeled a display case with the two Creature Power Suits arranged inside. They’d been cleaned for this occasion, caked-on mud scrubbed out and scratches repaired. Murmurs rose from the crowd as people craned their heads to try and get a good look at the two suits.

“Part of these suits’ construction is the storage of data on disks, in order to ensure that the suits can effectively, accurately, and safely recreate the abilities of an animal. This means programming and, of course, design.” Aviva took a quiet, deep breath. “For example, in the case of a peacock, the male peafowl, a beautiful bird I’m sure you all have seen before. Not only must the design allow the wearer to be able to fly, but every detail of the suit must be precise. In fact, I’d like to show you all an example, right here, right now.”

At that a much louder mutter erupted around the room; excitement and curiosity were palpable.

“For this purpose, I’ve asked my coworkers and dear friends to join me this evening. Please welcome Chris and Martin Kratt!”

Applause burst from crowd; the Kratts were well known, even in the technology world. The brothers walked on stage towards her, grinning and giving slight waves to the crowd. In evening formal wear, they looked slightly out of their element, but Martin was embracing it head on, his shoulders strong and straight in the suit. Chris, not one for the spotlight, managed to hide his discomfort well, but Aviva knew him well enough to see that he’d like to get this over with soon.

“Just for tonight,” Aviva went on, “I’ve designed and programmed the abilities of a peacock. Chris, Martin.” She turned to them with a smile and gestured. They went to where Koki had opened the display case, and she handed them their suits according to color.

The crowd was almost breathless with anticipation as the Kratts slid the suit vests over their heads and slipped on the gloves. Koki handed them two royal blue Creature Power Disks. Then they turned back to Aviva.

“May I?” quipped Martin, slightly teasing as he dipped his head in an almost imperceptible bow.

“Of course,” Aviva said.

The brothers stood at her side, then reached out to pluck a peacock feather from her dress. Koki had made it just for this occasion, a cascade of pale violet cloth with a trail of peacock feathers at an angle down one side. Martin and Chris held the feather jointly, resting flat on their open palms.

They didn’t have to, but Aviva supposed it was pure habit that made them say “Activate Creature Powers” in perfect unison as they reached up to press their activation buttons.

Instantly the suits glowed, a pixelated wave of energy sweeping down their arms and legs and reaching to cover their heads. There was a collective gasp of shock and awe from the crowd and Aviva couldn’t help the grin of satisfaction that snuck onto her face. One more tweak she’d made for tonight was to slow down the transformation; usually it was almost instantaneous, but she’d slowed it to several seconds to allow the audience a better view of it.

The glow evaporated and another gasp of awe rushed around the room. Chris and Martin now stood arrayed in gorgeous plumage. Royal blue feathers covered them from head to knee, and the signature long green tail feathers trailed out behind them on the stage.

Now was the brothers’ time to shine.

Chris was a dramatic person at heart, and he was much more comfortable in a Creature Power Suit than in a formal suit. The crest of feathers on his head rose as he elegantly inclined his head and his tail feathers flared, but he didn’t look like he was about to shake out into full display quite yet. He was almost preening in the sounds of delight coming from the audience, and Aviva wanted to burst out laughing.

Throwing back his shoulders, Martin stepped out like a true model and again Aviva wanted to laugh, partly in disbelief; obviously he hadn’t forgotten his time as a kidnapped model for Donita Donata. He had just the right sashay in his hips and sass in his shoulders, and even with the huge train of feathers making movement somewhat awkward, he made it all look effortless and alluring.

Then Chris fanned out his wings, unfurling what had looked to be plain brown wings into truly gorgeous, peachy-tipped appendages. Another gasp from the crowd made his crest stand up even higher. He fluttered his feathers dramatically, fluffing up the feathers on his chest and neck. Gracefully he went down on one knee, sweeping his colorful wings to the side so that the attention could be more on his tail. Or not, Aviva thought, as Martin stepped up behind his brother, rustled his feathers, and then lifted his tail to unfurl his stunning eye-pattern. He, too, stretched out his wings and the picture that he and Chris made in their poses was striking. Cameras had been clicking away all evening, but now they were snapping like mad.

Not to be outdone by his brother, Chris rose effortlessly to his feet and shook out his own tail feathers into their enormous upright fan. Carefully, he and Martin stepped around the stage, turning their tails at angles so that every member of the audience got a good look. Martin was grinning widely, absolutely delighted with the crowd’s awe, and while Chris’s smile was more subdued Aviva knew the drama queen in him was thoroughly enjoying this.

Aviva turned back to the podium, smiling. “As I stated before, the wings are fully functional,” she said into the mic.

The brothers knew she was going to prompt them to fly at some point, and now that they had their cue, their tail fans dropped and they spread their wings. Aviva had made doubly sure of the room’s dimensions before deciding to have the brothers fly in it, and it had plenty of space for them to make a short flight. Together they took a few steps, pumping their wings, and then lifted off into the air as graceful as if they’d been flying their whole lives.

As they wheeled off in different directions to quickly circle the room, the cameras turned to follow and in the audience phone flashes went off as everyone tried to get their own close up shot. Arcing around, the brothers Kratt glided back to the stage, deactivating as they landed. They turned, once again in perfect sync, and bowed to the audience.

The crowd roared with applause, some rising to their feet as they did so. Jimmy was among them, whooping and pumping a fist in the air.

Chris and Martin took off the suits, put them back in the display case, and walked offstage with Koki to head back to their table. Aviva still had to finish her full presentation, which wasn’t too long, but she’d made the impact that she wanted already.

The presentation went off without a hitch from there, and when she’d finished her talk Aviva got questions from the crowd, with Jimmy and Koki walking between tables with microphones. The whole focus was on the suits and, therefore, Aviva, and for once in her life, she was able to really enjoy being onstage and at the center of attention; these were _her_ inventions, her babies, and she was getting to talk about them to a room full of peers and experts in her field. The entire time, Chris, Martin, Koki, and Jimmy grinned up at her, delighted to see her in her element.

After the presentation, there were more questions, people coming up to congratulate and talk to her, and it was late before Aviva and the crew managed to escape the convention hall to head to their hotel rooms.

Aviva was gushing about the evening to Koki as they cleaned up and changed clothes, and her friend soaked it all up as if she hadn’t been there the entire time. Aviva was recounting a conversation with a famous engineer and toweling her hair dry when there was a knock on the door.

“Open up!” called Jimmy from outside.

Koki got the door and Jimmy, Chris, and Martin piled in, chattering and congratulating Aviva all over again.

“Let’s celebrate,” Jimmy cheered, setting a stack of fancy pizza boxes on the table. Someone put down a bottle of champagne.

“Where did that come from?” Aviva asked, raising an eyebrow.

Chris grinned and winked. “Hey, we’re all over legal drinking age, there’s nothing wrong with a glass or two.”

“We’re celebrating!” Martin hooted, producing several cheap glasses from somewhere on his person.

Laughing, Koki found some paper towels for the pizza. “Where did you guys find the time to go and get that? And the glasses?”

“I ran down to the dollar store while Chris and Jimmy were taking their showers.”

“In your suit?” asked Aviva, helping herself to the food.

“They were pretty confused, but they didn’t ask questions. It _is_ the dollar store.”

They all chuckled at the mental image of Martin in a fancy suit and tie, running into the cheapest store imaginable to buy five champagne glasses.

“And the champagne?” Koki prompted.

“I ordered that from room service while Jimmy was in the shower,” Chris said.

“Did they card you bro?” Martin teased.

“Shut up!” Chris shot back, shoving Martin with his foot.

More laughter circled the group of friends, and Chris joined in, not at all offended. Martin popped the cork on the champagne and with Koki’s help he poured the glasses and passed them around. When everyone had their champagne and a slice of fancy pizza on a paper towel, he raised his glass.

“A toast to Aviva!” he announced, “to her genius inventions that keep us adventuring every day, and her incredible designs!”

“To Aviva!” chorused the rest of the group, and Aviva tried to be subtle as she wiped her damp eyes, grinning happily.

“And a toast to the best co-workers and most amazing friends I could ever ask for!” she added.

They all cheered again, clinking glasses.

In a messy hotel room, all crowded on one bed, with cheap champagne in dollar store glasses, pizza on paper towels, hair still wet from showers, the crew had more fun than they’d had at the fancy dinner. Aviva knew for sure that _she_ enjoyed it as much, if not more, than all the congratulations and flowery speech she’d received from the PhDs down in the convention hall.


	6. Homecoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Early morning reunions are best served with a hot breakfast on the side

Two women stood anxiously waiting just outside of the arrival gate. It was early in the morning, and even though it was a fairly big airport there weren't very many people around yet, so the two were almost entirely alone. The shorter of the two, with an afro of tight ringlet curls, swirled lukewarm coffee around in her mug.

"Please remind me again why we're here at the crack of dawn," she sighed to her friend.

The other woman rolled her eyes and laughed, interrupting herself with a yawn. "Koki, they've been gone for _two_ _months_ and we've only got three emails in all this time. You should be jumping up and down!"

With a raised eyebrow, Koki turned her head slowly, and just as slowly she looked her friend up and down. "I don't see _you_ doing any jumpin' jacks."

The girl laughed again and stretched. "Sorry, I'm saving all my excitement for when they get here."

"What do you think _I'm_ doing?" Koki retorted dryly.

"Sulking because you had to wake up at 4 am."

"As would _any_ sane person."

They fell into an expectant silence then, as a few straggling passengers began to filter out of the gate and disperse into the lobby. Despite their back and forth banter about being too tired, they perked up as they stared towards the hallway from which the passengers were exiting.

Suddenly two figures walked out, each carrying an oversized expedition type backpack. The two men, unlike every other sleepy eyed passenger before them, were wide awake and almost bouncing with energy. From down the long hall, brown and blue eyes met hazel and gray. With barely contained whoops of excitement, they both broke into a sprint, matching each other step for step.

The two women suddenly came alive with energy as well, waving wildly as if the guys couldn't see them in plain sight. The men skittered quickly past the last rope and bar keeping them from the girls and as the two groups rushed to meet each other, the brunette shed his backpack and gained the lead by mere inches. With that tiny advantage, he was the first to scoop up his girlfriend and swing her around in an excited circle.

"Chris! I've got coffee!" she yelled, but she was laughing delightedly at the same time.

He stopped twirling her and set her down, waited while wiggling with impatience as she set it on the floor out of the way, then picked her up again and covered her face with quick, happy kisses.

“Hey, settle down!” she giggled, “you’re worse than a slobbery puppy!”

“Oh come on, I’m not that bad!” he protested, stopping and setting her down again. “Just be glad you’re not dating my brother, _he’s_ slobbery.”

“Am not!”

“He is not!”

Aviva and Martin chorused together. They looked at each other and started laughing again, and the joy in the air at being reunited was so infectious that Chris and Koki cracked up again too, and then Martin swept all four of them together in a happy hug.

“Hey!”

They all quieted and turned at the plaintive voice and saw a very miffed and sleepy Jimmy standing nearby, holding a large paper bag from a fast food place.

“I leave for ten minutes to get breakfast and you all start having group hugs without me?”

“Well excuuuuuse me for wanting to give my boyfriend a welcome home kiss,” Koki huffed in mock exasperation.

“Gross,” Jimmy shot back, miming a gagging motion. Then he couldn’t help but grin as he set down the fast food bag and ran to join in the group hug. “Welcome back bros!” he greeted, voice muffled from being squashed face first into both Martin’s pullover and Koki’s scarf.

They squeezed each other tightly for a long minute, ignoring the lazy early morning foot traffic around them. At last Martin stopped hugging them—he was always the last to let go—and they gathered their things to head to the van.

“Here,” Koki said, digging into her satchel and pulling out a matching pair of green and blue jackets, “there was a cold snap last night.”

“The first frost of autumn!” Aviva confirmed cheerfully.

“Aw man, I’m gonna’ start missing the warmth of those Amazon jungles,” Martin said without a trace of regret or melancholy. He dropped his backpack long enough to suit up and then grabbed it again. “Hey Chris, I wonder if we can track those geese that live outside the old university library?”

Chris’s eyes sparkled and he opened his mouth to say something but Koki slapped her hand over it before he could speak.

“Nope, nu-uh. No wild goose chases right now. _Or_ semi-tame goose chases. You two just got back and you have other things to do.”

“Like tell us everything about your trip while we eat breakfast back in the office lounge,” Jimmy supplied helpfully.

“Okay, okay, no geese,” Martin said, but he didn’t seem all that sad about it.

They left the airport, found the van and all piled in. Jimmy cranked it and turned on the heater before swiveling in his seat to face the others. “Okay, you know the drill, this bus isn’t leaving until everyone is buckled in.” He waited while his orders were followed, then grinned. “All right, let’s get home and have breakfast!”

They whooped cheerfully, and chatter quickly filled the van as they made their way towards the cozy office lounge where they spent most of their time. With the promise of a breakfast, comfortable couches, and friends, they were bound to spend the rest of the day relaxing and talking, and they all silently agreed that it was the best way to celebrate a homecoming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another little thing I wrote while in Japan (at least partially). Traveling to Japan was the first time I'd ever flown before, and despite the horrendously long travel day I somehow enjoyed it.
> 
> This is some sort of "no fancy-schmancy technology" AU but the crew are still besties and work with animals. The bros will go on longer research/filming trips without the others sometimes, but typically the whole gang is included.
> 
> And yes there is Chris/Koki and Martin/Aviva because I think these ships are just ooey-gooey cute and I am unstoppable.


End file.
